


Just Us and the Goats

by Wolf_of_Lilacs



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, References to death of a parent, Sibling Bonding, Treat, references to trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:46:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22726375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolf_of_Lilacs/pseuds/Wolf_of_Lilacs
Summary: Ariana and Aberforth, tending the goats.
Relationships: Ariana Dumbledore & Aberforth Dumbledore
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	Just Us and the Goats

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EssayOfThoughts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EssayOfThoughts/gifts).



"Can you bring the feed?" Aberforth sat on a stool and milked Bertie, one of their two nanny goats.

Ariana went to grab the feed. Aberforth watched her. There was no spring in her step today. Her head drooped and her shoulders were hunched up to her ears. It had been almost a month now since Mum died.

"Ab," she said on her return.

"Yeah?" Bertie decided she'd had enough and started to back away. He let her go and wiped his hands on his robes. Albus would wrinkle his nose and make him run a bath later, as if he couldn't take care of himself.

"I think I want to go live as a Muggle," Ariana said. "Be where people aren't pretending I don't exist."

"That's batty," he protested. "I said I'd start a tavern or something and you could live with me there. Just us and the goats and no Albus."

She smiled, tremulous. "Sure, Ab. I'd like that. But I want to go to school. Not Hogwarts. A non-magical school where I could learn _anything_." She was sounding increasingly earnest, leaning forward. Then she sank back. "It was what me and Mum were arguing about when...when it happened."

Aberforth stood up and went over to her, holding out an arm. She nodded, and he hugged her, her hair tickling his nose.

He didn't say any of the things he was thinking: that she could never pass as a Muggle; that something would happen and there'd be another Mum. Albus would have. Instead, he smiled at her. If she wanted it enough, he thought, she could figure something out. She'd never been allowed to try. "We can live in my tavern, and you can go to school. How's that sound?"

Ariana drew back and grinned up at him. It was the happiest he'd seen her in a month.

They heard the back door open, and Albus stepped gingerly outside. "Come in," he told them, those new, ridiculously shiny boots of his completely out of place in the goat pen. "Gellert's here. We'll make dinner."

Aberforth and Ariana rolled their eyes at each other.

"And please wash up," Albus went on, eyeing their dirt and milk-speckled hands askance.

"Was this your idea?" Aberforth asked him.

"No," Albus admitted, looking disgusted. "He says that if my family's important to me, then they're important to him, too."

"Right. I'm sure that's what he said." Aberforth dragged his feet toward the house, Ariana mirroring him. He couldn't wait till Albus got fed up enough with them and left. It was bound to happen, he hoped.


End file.
